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Requested-Review: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAVEN by Vivian Arend

This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.

It’s the quiet ones that take you by surprise.

Beth Danube’s emotionally abusive husband is dead and buried. So is her heart. It’s no big deal, she has all she wants: her three little boys and a fresh start in a small Alberta town. What she doesn’t want is another man in her life—not now, maybe not ever.

After ten years of unsatisfactory, missionary-position sex, she never expected her libido to reawaken. One look at sex-in-boots Daniel Coleman in a Calgary bar, though, blows the dust off her sexuality.

Sensing an edge of desperation, even fear, beneath Beth’s come-on, Daniel finds himself giving in to the powerful urge to let his normally subdued desires run wild. The lady wants non-judgmental, non-vanilla sex? She’s got it—in and out of the bedroom.

At first, friends with blazing-hot benefits is more than enough. Then she realizes Daniel is burning away the protective fortress around her heart…and the guilty secret she dare not reveal.

Warning: One woman determined to retake control of her life, a man with the single-minded purpose of offering her—and her body—everything she needs. Inappropriate behavior in barns, change rooms, and oh-my-gawd phone sex with a cowboy.

Title: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAVENAuthor: Vivian ArendSeries: Six Pack Ranch, book 2Genre: Contemporary Romance, Western RomancePublisher: Samhain PublishingYear of release: 2012, January 10Format: eBookSource: Received an e-ARC from author for review

First line: She nursed her drink, waving back at her little sister who was jammed on the dance floor with a hundred other people.

Memorable Scenes: – Jesse showing Beth one of the reasons the Six Pack Ranch is called the Six Pack Ranch > wouldn’t have minded a demo like that LOL – the scene in Beth’s classroom > Daniel’s creativity with scissors and a bra is admirable – the phone sex scene > Daniel earned his spot on my fave heroes-list with that scene alone – Beth’s lesson in giving head > Wow! – Nathan and Daniel’s talk > I couldn’t keep it dry – Jaxi going into labour and the delivery > great scene filled with humor and emotion

Beth Danube is a widow with three young boys and she’s ready to take her life in her own hands again, take control and take what she wants. She’s resilient, realistic, down-to-earth and strong. I loved her boys and their contribution to the story. They added a lot to Beth’s characterization.

Daniel Coleman is the typical middle child and peacemaker. He’s quiet, caring, intuitive and straightforward. He’s gentlemanly, confident and easy to be around. But he’s also decent and dirty at the same time, which is why he is the first hero of 2012 to land on my favorite heroes list.

I loved reading about Daniel and Beth together and the romance of this book is going to be hard to top further on in the series. But knowing Vivian Arend, she’ll manage to make me eat these words.

One of the things I enjoy the most about this series is the dynamic between brothers. They love, support and fight like any siblings do. The banter and bond between the Colemans is mesmerizing and excellently done and each brother brings something unique to the table. I still find Travis a jerk though and I wonder how Vivian Arend is going to make him less of a jerk when the time for his book comes.

I also loved the introduction of the Angel Boy Colemans, the brothers Gabe and Rafe, who are cousins to the Six Pack Colemans. They added to the story, the hints at their back-stories were fascinating to say the least and they form interesting fodder for future books in this series. I read that Viv is working on Gabe’s story and I really hope she’ll continue it in the direction she hinted at in ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAVEN.

Where in the revised ROCKY MOUNTAIN HEAT the additions surrounding Matt felt like they were overpowering the main story a bit, in this book the additions concerning Gabe were more subtle and complemented the main story rather than take away from it. Still I need to mention that my dislike of Helen is still very much in effect and even intensified into something close to hate. My heart broke for Matt. Poor Matt!

I read the original release of this book and loved it but honestly I had forgotten just how much until I started reading this revised re-release. The moment Beth and Daniel locked gazes and engaged in conversation at the bar it all came back and I must say the revising made it even more awesome than it was when I read it the first time.

You know what it is with Vivian Arend’s sex scenes? They sneak up on you and just blow your mind with their awesomeness. Especially in this book. Both Daniel and Beth are calm and not in-your-face characters, their romance develops in a sweet and gradual way but the sex scenes…they set the pages on fire and leave you thinking: Wow, it really is the sweet, calm and quiet ones that are most naughty. The explicit and unapologetic sex scenes made this story as complete as it can get!

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAVEN is another perfect mix of heat, romance, emotions and humor. Balanced out into a fast-paced read that holds you hostage until you’ve come to the satisfying ending and you’re left wanting more. With every next book Vivian Arend is getting better and better. And believe me she was already good to begin with.

Favorite Quotes:

Oh my. If she’d thought the twins were good looking, this specimen was dazzling. He was still probably younger than her, but on him the tantalizing features of the other boys had matured, soft edges harder, more pronounced. There was no doubt he was a member of the six-pack they’d spoken about. Whatever else the family raised out on that ranch of theirs, the men were certainly impressive.

He had a wicked smile. She’d noticed his good looks, but the smile turned his whole face into sin incarnate.
“You’re having trouble articulating, darling. How about I offer you multiple choices. You look like the type who enjoys options.”

This was insane. She’d gone insane. This was no longer an exercise to discover if she could again bear physical contact with a man. It was a torture method to see how much her body could take before she exploded from the mere thought of a caress.

She came undone. Between the relentless strokes, the dirty talk and the whole naughtiness of the situation, the earth unraveled and took her with it. His mouth clamped down on hers as she started to cry out, the need to express the pleasure tearing her apart, overriding the logical sections of her brain.

“Beth, you okay?”
She turned and lifted a brow at Matt. He and Travis watched her with concern written all over their faces.
“Just fine.” She took the couple of steps back to drop into the seat next to Jaxi. This was one of those moments she wanted a female touch. “Who’s the woman with a death-wish sucking face with my guy?”

“Tonight, you’re mine. No games, no playing. Just open yourself up and give yourself to me, Beth. Let go and let me catch you.”